The Rankin County Sheriff’s Department fired five deputies who have been accused of beating and sexually assaulting two Black men, Michael Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker, Sheriff Bryan Bailey announced at a press conference Tuesday.
He said the officers had been on administrative leave before their termination. Some of the deputies resigned earlier, but Bailey did not mention how many nor list their names.
“Due to recent developments, including findings during our internal investigation, those deputies that were still employed by this department have all been terminated,” WLBT reported Bailey saying.
Parker and Jenkins’ lawyers Malik Shabazz and Trent Walker filed a lawsuit against Rankin County, Sheriff Bailey and the six deputies on behalf of Jenkins and Parker on June 12. It names three white officers as defendants in the case: Hunter Elward, Brett Mc’Alpin and Christian Dedmon, along with three “John Doe Deputies.”
Jenkins and Parker were in their Braxton, Miss., home on the evening of Jan. 24, 2023, when six Rankin County Sheriff’s deputies allegedly raided the residence without a warrant before beating the men and shooting Jenkins in the mouth, the lawsuit says.
“No reasonable suspicion or probable cause existed for the Defendants’ actions. No cause for warrantless entry into the premises existed,” the lawsuit says. “At this point, nor at any point, did either victim ever resist, run away from, or oppose the deputies in any way.”
https://www.mississippifreepress.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Michael-Corey-Jenkins-lawsuit-filing.pdf
The lawsuit says the officers waterboarded Jenkins and Parker using milk and other liquids found in the home. Jenkins and Parker claim the deputies sexually assaulted them using a sex toy, saying it was an attempt to humiliate them.
During a Feb. 15 press conference with Jenkins, Parker and their legal counsel, lead attorney Shabazz depicted the arrest.
“While in handcuffs, racial slurs were used by these six officers calling them n–ger at different points,” The Mississippi Free Press reported Shabazz saying. “In addition, Rankin County deputies, while these men were handcuffed for over 90 minutes, these deputies repeatedly pointed guns to the heads of both men and threatened to kill them.”
The deputies charged Jenkins with aggravated
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